


I Know Places

by thehiddenhero



Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Forbidden Love, Friendship, Kind of a slow burn, M/M, Young Thranduil, graphic things are in later chapters, the major character death is just canonical
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-28
Updated: 2015-09-04
Packaged: 2018-04-17 16:23:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4673411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thehiddenhero/pseuds/thehiddenhero
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A young prince, a betrothal, a great war, and looming responsibilities. Throw in a forbidden love for added spice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by Taylor Swift's song, "I Know Places". It started off being really simple and a really short songfic, but I fell in love with it and its become something more.
> 
> "Baby I know places we won't be found and they'll be chasing their tails tryin' to track us down  
> Cause I, I know places we can hide, I know places"
> 
> **Also, I took creative license with this (obviously), so my timeline is sometimes different than Tolkien's**

_“Guren bêd enni i gi melin a bestathangid aen. Man gureg bêd?”_  
_"Guren be 'ureg. Na veth min în, bestathangid!"_

The crown prince of the Woodland realm sat quietly in the royal gardens, his feet tucked under him and the sun radiating from long strands of white-gold hair. There was no sound here but the rustling of the leaves, and the occasional bird, and the rest of the palace was busy preparing for the guests arriving far beyond the sea, leaving the young elf to memorize his vows in peace.

Brilliant blue orbs stared up into the equally blue sky, wondering what it would be like to fly, to escape the confines of the palace and of his title, to be free to love who he wished and to feel love in return. Alas, it was not his duty to his kingdom to be free.

He didn’t love her, the girl that they were bringing from across the sea for him to wed. He did not even know her- How could he love her? Time and time again, his father had told him of his duty, of his heritage and of his responsibilities, and that he had no choice but to marry whom his father had selected for him. The family line needed to continue, and only the King of the Woodland realm had the authority to choose who would be fit to become Princess, and who was fit to bear an heir to the throne of Oropher.

“Thranduil!”

The prince looked quickly in the direction of the voice, his face softening as his eyes fell to his mother’s smiling face. She was already dressed in her formal attire, a beautiful and intricate gown embroidered with the finest lace and gems. Tonight was all about impressions, and King Oropher would expect nothing less than for his family to be excellent.

“Thranduil, caun vell, you mustn’t dally in the flowers,” The Queen laughed, the sweet sound of her voice bringing a small smile to Thranduil’s face, despite his melancholy state. He nodded, understanding that there was no stopping what was ahead. He had to get ready to meet the arriving party- to meet his wife.

“I am sorry, naneth,” He said quietly, rising from the grass and smoothing down his cloak before moving closer to her. “I was just…practicing my vows. I do not wish to get them wrong, for Adar would be most embarrassed.”

The Queen raised a brow at this, noting the evident change in her son since his return from Lindon.

“What have they done to my beautiful boy in the House of Gil-Galad?” She smirked, placing a kiss to her son’s temple. “The Thranduil that I know would not be giving in so easily.”

“I have grown in these years, naneth,” The ellon explained, bowing his head slightly and staring at his boots. “I know that there is no point in arguing, for my words will not stop the inevitable, though my heart longs for it to be otherwise.”

Nostariel sighed, gently bringing her hand to lift Thranduil’s chin, looking into eyes that mirrored her own. She had missed her only child while he had been away, and she worried for him as any mother would. Her husband’s methods in fatherhood and ruling were not always separate, and Nostariel dreamed of a day where her son could be truly happy.

“What I see in your eyes, my spring, is not the wisdom of years,” She said softly, cupping the face that she barely knew anymore. Gone was the childish prince that had been taken from her and sent away to Lindon, and here was a warrior, trained and deadly, and no longer an innocent. It pained her to know she was not with him as he grew. “What I see is defeat.”

Thranduil was about to speak, but a voice in the back of his head urged him to stay quiet and prepare himself for what was ahead. It didn’t matter anymore, it was best to forget. The prince bit his bottom lip, eyes drifting away from his mother’s again, scared that if he looked any longer, she would be able to see what his heart truly desired, what it could not desire any longer.

The Queen took his silence in stride, accepting it as a truth to her thoughts. She took her son’s hand in her own, guiding him with ease down the winding pathway that led to the large stone doors of the Woodland palace. “The guests have already begun to arrive,” She whispered, keeping her voice low from gossiping ears as they walked. “The announcement of your engagement is planned to be a grand affair, and your Adar has arranged for a feast and a lavish party to accompany the news.”

Thranduil only nodded again, focusing on his mother’s words instead of the dark locks and chestnut eyes that his heart was screaming for. It was no use now. It was done.

“The custom, Thranduil, is that you will remain engaged for a year. Precisely on the eve of your anniversary, you shall be wed here in the Woodland Realm, and Nessiel shall be crowned princess. Your father is not yet ready to settle down and give you the throne, and so you have plenty of time to conceive an heir.”

“Nan-“

“I know, I know, tis a dreadful subject for a mother to speak of with her boy, but I doubt you will get a better conversation with your father.”

Thranduil nodded at that, a small smirk pulling at his lips as he thought of Oropher giving him such a lecture. He and his father had been close when the family had lived in Doriath, spending endless time together when his Adar had not been busy with Thingol’s clergy. When Oropher had been crowned king of the Woodland Realm, their entire family dynamic had changed, and though Oropher in heart was a kind and loving elf, he had difficulty balancing between his role as a father, and his new life as King. Their relationship had smoldered until all that was left was dust.

“Anyhow,” Nostariel continued, giving her son a little pat on the shoulder, “After this evening, Nessiel and her father will be staying with us for three days. After that time, they will be returning to their land, and you will only see her every few months up until the wedding.” The Queen eyed her son, giving him a knowing smile. They stopped when they reached her son’s chamber’s, and she pulled away from him to go to his wardrobe, pulling out a beautiful robe of embellished greens.

“I hope a year will be enough time for you, ion nin,” She said softly, laying the robe on the foot of Thranduil’s bed, and reaching high up in the wardrobe to take down a wooden box.

“Enough time for what, to fall in love with her?” The prince sighed deeply, sitting on the edge of the bed and folding his hands in his lap to keep them from fidgeting. This was hopeless, his mother simply did not understand. How could she possibly?

“No, my child,” Nostariel grinned, placing the wooden box down and opening the lid with her fingertips. She pulled out a circlet, entwined silver and gems fit for an elven prince, and placed it on his forehead. “Enough time for you to understand the love that you already have.”

Thranduil’s head shot up in surprise, wide eyes staring at his mother. She knew. He was done for.

“Nana, I do not understand. You must be mistak-“

“Thranduil, Thranduil, my beloved spring, do calm down,” The Queen cooed, cupping her son’s cheeks in her hands and kissing his forehead in a loving attempt to calm. “Gil-Galad wrote to me in confidence, knowing that your father…well, he simply would not understand. You know that I do not always agree with your father’s actions, and in this you may be absolutely certain. Your father and I met and fell in love, and married by our own hearts design. As any mother would, I dream of that for you.”

Thranduil could not help the tears that fell down porcelain cheeks, the emotions that he had kept pent up since returning home flowing from him with no sign of stopping.

“Oh, Nana, I love him so,” He whispered, his voice weak and wavering as he clung to his mother’s dress, tears streaking the fabric and crumping the lace.

“I know, ion nin,” She whispered, running fingers through his hair. “I know. Now come, let’s get you ready.”


	2. Chapter 2

The engagement announcement of the crown prince of the woodland realm was truly a grand spectacle. King Oropher spared no expense when it came to parties, and guests and delights came from as far as the shire and the far corners of the east. Food and wine were in abundance, and music and laughter flooded the halls well into the early hours of the morning.

The only person that was missing from the joyous festivities was the prince himself, sneaking away down a quiet hallway as the dancing had commenced and his father’s eye had turned away from him. His fiancé had hardly noticed his absence, for her heart did not beat for him just as his did not for her, and she spent her evening in the good company of many, with food and drinks galore.

Thranduil, on the other hand, sat on the cold stone floor of an abandoned corridor, all guards having permission to leave their posts and join in on the festivities. His back was pressed against the wall, his shoulders slouched, and his eyes closed. The sounds of music and laughter vibrated off the walls and into his head, and for a moment Thranduil wondered if it were possible for his head to ache nearly as much as his heart. The engagement ring on his finger felt heavy as lead, weighed down by the enormity of the lie to which it was based. His breathing was shaky as he slowly opened his eyes again, staring up at the raised ceilings and wishing that he could break through, and escape this prisonlike life that he could not escape for the life of him.

“I thought that I might find you here.”

That voice, so soft and gentle and so unmistakably _his_ made Thranduil look over quickly, bright blue eyes welling up with tears as his eyes beheld the source of his heart’s affections.  
Elrond was smiling softly, though it was more sympathetic and sorrowful than joyous. He stood leaning against the wall, long brown hair braided and trailing down his back, and a golden circlet adorned his head that matched the intricate swirls of his crimson robe. Thranduil was sure that he had never beheld a more beautiful sight.

“Meleth,” He breathed his voice no louder than a whisper, should someone discover them together. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to see you, of course,” The peredhil chuckled, his brow rising slightly as a grin formed on his face. “Or rather, I’ve come as part of my lord Gil Galad’s entourage to attend your engagement ceremony. I believe congratulations are in order, by the way.”

Thranduil sighed, letting out a breath that he did not know he was holding in as he peeled his eyes away from his love, and looked down at his ring, feeling the weight of it now more than ever.  


“I am sorry,” He said quietly, doing nothing to stop the tears that now fell down his face. “My…My father- He does not understand-“

Elrond immediately moved forward, his expression a mixture of sadness and compassion as he cupped Thranduil’s face in his hands, chasing away tears with his thumbs. 

“Oh no, hush, my love,” He cooed, pressing his lips to Thranduil’s forehead in an attempt to soothe him. “I did not come all this way to make you feel bad. I came because it is my duty to my lord, but mainly because I…had to see you again. I know that this plan was not your heart’s desire, Thranduil, and I love you no less than before that ring was on your finger. I only wish that it was I who placed it there.”

At Elrond’s words, Thranduil could not hold back any longer, crumbling into him as the brunette held him close, supporting him with his bodyweight as the young elven prince cried. It seemed as if there was no happy ending in sight for the two of them, and despite what his father and many others on the council had constantly drilled into Thranduil’s head, there was no denying that the feeling of being embraced in Elrond’s arms was comparable to no other, and he had never felt so safe or at home.

“Things….things cannot be as they were,” He whimpered, breathing in the scent of Elrond through his cloak and wishing that he could drown in it. “They can’t be as they were in Lindon.”

“No,” Elrond agreed, threading fingers gently through Thranduil’s hair, turning the silky strands gently as if they were freshly spun gold. “Things are much different now, I am afraid. Still, I will not give you up so easily, meleth nin. I know that I am selfish in this, and I know that I am putting yet another burden on you when it already seems as though you may be crushed from the weight of it all, but I need you to hold out a little longer. I need you to give this time.”

“Time?” Thranduil pulled away from his lover only slightly to better look into his eyes, a perplexed expression on his face. “You’ve been talking to mother.”

“I have.”

“Then you know very well that my father has every intention of having me married a year from this very day, to that elleth in that hall who I do not love.” Thranduil felt his lip quiver upon saying the words of his doom out loud, it sounding much more daunting as it echoed from his own voice in the quiet halls.

“And I also know that your mother is using this year of engagement to try to talk to your father about other possibilities, about us being together.”

Thranduil closed his eyes again, listening to Elrond’s calming voice, and feeling fingertips trace along his jaw.

“I know it is just a hope, my beloved prince, but is that not better than nothing at all? I will hold onto anything that will bring me closer to you.”

The blond haired prince was still for a long moment, before nodding his head. “My heart was yours from the moment that we first met, meleth nin, you know this. Nothing, not my father, this kingdom nor this ring can change this fact.”

“Then come,” Elrond said softly, a genuine smile returning to his face that made Thranduil’s heart soar. “Come with me to my guest chambers, we have much to talk about, for I have missed you over these coming months.”

“Of course,” Thranduil nodded, walking down the hall and talking Elrond’s hand in his. For once, he was happy that the party was taking place, for it allowed for privacy between the two young elves that otherwise would be in hiding. “Where is your room, meleth?”

“Beside yours, of course,” Elrond purred, reaching over to kiss his love’s cheek. “Your mother has a wicked side, does she not?”

**Author's Note:**

> Elvish:
> 
> *Guren bêd enni i gi melin a bestathangid aen. Man gureg bêd?  
> My heart tells me that I love you and we should wed. What does your heart say?
> 
> *Guren be 'ureg. Na veth min în, bestathangid!  
> My heart is like your heart. At the end of one year, we shall wed!


End file.
